Sailing to Sarantium

Book One of the Sarantine Mosaic

By: Guy Gavriel Kay

Narrated by: Berny Clark

Length: 18 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

Crispin is a mosaicist, a layer of bright tiles. Still grieving for the family he lost to the plaque, he lives only for his arcane craft. But an imperial summons from Valerius the Trakesian to Sarantium, the most magnificent place in the world, is difficult to resist.

In a world half-wild and tangled with magic, a journey to Sarantium means a walk into destiny. Bearing with him a deadly secret and a Queen's seductive promise, guarded only by his own wits and a talisman from an alchemist's treasury, Crispin sets out for the fabled city. Along the way he will encounter a great beast from the mythic past, and in robbing the zubir of its prize, he wins a woman's devotion and a man's loyalty - and loses a gift he didn't know he had until it was gone.

Once in this city ruled by intrigue and violence, he must find his own source of power. Struggling to deal with the dangers and seductive lures of the men and woman around him, Crispin does discover it, in a most unusual place - high on the scaffolding of the greatest work of art ever imagined....

©1998 Guy Gavriel Kay (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

GGK through and through, depth, maturity...

If you haven't read Guy Gavriel Kay, he does not pack his books full of physical action or high-fantasy magic systems. But his characters are rich, the plots are intricate, and the interpersonal, political, and mythical struggles are captivating.

I returned to him after a binge of YA that left my brain rotten and I am glad I did.

This is a rich and interesting story, told at a somewhat leisurely pace. I am on book two and I am still enrapt with the broad colorful story opening wide in this series.

Excellent Historical Allegory

Though I continue to struggle with Kay's understanding (or use) or religion, his allegorical approach to history is fantastic & his story telling is excellent. Great characters and great time sweeps. Very compelling.

This book makes me want to know more about Roman/Byzantine history. If you don't get that this is about the Roman/Byzantine Empire under the reign of Justinian and the building of the Hagia Sophia, you may want to read about that before you read this book.

Not my favourite Guy Gavriel Kay novel

Guy Gavriel Kay is an amazing author. His writing style is beautiful and can really draw you in… however, that didn’t save this book from being boring. None of the character were particularly engaging and there were few events in the book of any interest. Felt like a lot of historical nuance that I just didn’t care about…

The narrator has a good and easy to listen to voice. Why on earth he thinks all women whisper and talk in a feeble delicate voice though, I don’t know. Annoying that I kept having to adjust the volume whenever a woman was speaking to actually hear what was being said.

Great story, hideous narrator

This would’ve been a fabulous audiobook had a better narrator been chosen for it. This one speaks in a monotone when he’s not doing voices, and doesn’t give enough of a pause between character point of view switches to let you know you are in another character’s head. Very confusing, tedious, and considering the talent of this author, infuriating.

Unabashed 5/5 stars!

I am reviewing the complete Sarantine mosaic duology here because to me these 2 books, Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of emperors, are really just one book broken up into two volumes. This is the best work by GGK that I have read so far. I loved A song for Arbonne and Sarantine mosaic is a much superior work. Leagues better than Tigana and Under heaven.
The story is masterfully crafted, GGK taking utmost care to hone the plotting, the pacing, the twists and turns, the surprises, and obviously the prose is the work of a maestro.
Character work in this multiPOV is also the work of a genius. It shines.

Narrated by the sleep king

Would you try another book from Guy Gavriel Kay and/or Berny Clark?

no not with that Narrater

Has Sailing to Sarantium turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, not at all.

What didn???t you like about Berny Clark???s performance?

Not a thing was so boring i tried for over a wee to get though it.

You didn???t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I was looking for something new, the ratings where high and usually am a fare judgment of a book but in this case it was a big error to believe the ratings. If you what a Narrated book to put you to sleep try this on. There was no fluctuation no depth or change of any kind in this voice.
This in turn makes a bad, boring story because you just can???t get in to it.

Didn't finish

i have finally abandoned this book after struggling to listen to it over a month. I jist couldn't get into the story, and I'm usually a fan of Kay's books. Hugely long, boring passages describing characters or events only tangentially related to the plot slowed the narrative in a way I couldn't appreciate. I wonder if this would have been better as a printed book than an audio book?

Big beef as well with how everyone seems to think the main character is fabulous and all the female characters in the book (literally every single one except his mother) want to sleep with him. Sigh

Narration was okay; I think he did the best with what he was given.

I'd give it a miss and try another of Kay's series instead.

Poorly plotted, sexist, and precious.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

People looking for a shallow "exotic" adventure narrative.

Has Sailing to Sarantium turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, just books by Guy Gavriel Kay. Under Heaven also displeased me, both in content and in narration, although it was much better written, but I was able to get through it and so I bought this. Big mistake. He has clearly improved over the course of his career.

What didn’t you like about Berny Clark’s performance?

Pretentious and overwrought. Also, if you don't have an English accent, don't fake one badly.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment. I only became angry after the lousy characterizations of female characters reached their apogee.

Prologue too boring characters unlikable

DNF at 20%. I don’t like the main character and don’t care about his mission either would be tolerable but the combination of which is too bad there is little ti admit about the main character, the author seems to forget that a person suffering does not make you like them- only (at best) pity them.

Can't give a fair rating

The narrator is so awful as to make this audio book unbearable. This isn't 1990, audio books are a key part of the publishing business, why do people like this still get hired? I thought he would have to pick up some expression at some point, that he couldn't possibly continue on in that same monotone for 9 hours. I was wrong. Somebody, the narrator, the director, probably both, needs to be expelled from this industry forever.